


A Nugget of Happiness

by Ace_From_Outer_Space, Nothing_You_Can_Prove



Series: The Stars Aligned [2]
Category: The Walking Dead (Telltale Video Game)
Genre: Cuddling & Snuggling, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/F, Feels, Fluff, Kissing, Romance, Stargazing, TWDG S4 spoilers, these dorks warm my heart, violetine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-07-20 18:15:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,821
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16142786
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ace_From_Outer_Space/pseuds/Ace_From_Outer_Space, https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nothing_You_Can_Prove/pseuds/Nothing_You_Can_Prove
Summary: The stars tell so many stories, help weary travelers navigate their toughest of journeys and symbolize those we have lost. So much beauty and sometimes pain. Both Clementine and Violet know that well by now, even when they give them new meaning.





	A Nugget of Happiness

**Author's Note:**

> I’m sure a lotta people are gonna be leaning into the stargazing stuff but hey, I’ll jump on the train too. Gotta write out all them feels, lol.

********Stars twinkled in the midnight blue sky, a glittery explosion. The light of a half moon fell on Ericson’s Boarding School, now a fortress and sanctuary for weary survivors. Casting a long shadow over the silent courtyard was a rundown belltower.

As was almost tradition now, two girls laid atop the tower staring up at the stars. How many times had they scaled this building now? More than either of them could count.

It made them feel more hopeful, reminded them that not everything changed and if it did, they could give it new meaning.

“Those stars look a bit like a chicken nugget.” Violet pointed it out, tracing the shape with her index finger. “Not sure what personality to give it, though.”

Watching her mark out a rough outline, Clementine rested her hands on her stomach. “One day, we’re gonna make some.”

Intrigued, Violet turned to look at her. “You can’t even remember them, so how could you possibly know how to make them?”

She shrugged in response. “I don’t, but I’m sure we can figure it out. Can’t be too hard, right?”

“Someone sounds confident.”

Clementine gasped melodramatically. “Are you doubting me? Ouch.”

That made Violet roll her eyes playfully. “I could never doubt you, Clem. There’s nothing _to_ doubt.”

Feeling her face turn a light shade of pink - she was so glad it was too dark to see… well, she  _hoped_ \- Clementine nudged her shoulder. “Alright, smooth talker.”

Noticing her embarrassment but choosing not to tease her about it, Violet scoffed playfully. “Oh please, that’s the last word I’d use.”

“You have your moments,” Clem insisted, not about to let her drag herself down.

She wanted Violet to see exactly what she saw; a girl deserving of all the love in the world, kind and caring under her rough exterior.

“You’re the real charmer, Clem,” Violet muttered, feeling a smile tug at her lips.

Clementine chuckled at that. “Somehow, I don’t think everyone would agree.”

Violet huffed loudly. “Fuck what everyone else thinks. They don’t know you. You know you, AJ knows you…” she paused to press a kiss to Clementine’s cheek, her last three words a much softer whisper, “ _I_ know you.”

“I’m glad you do.” Honestly, Clementine didn’t care much about what other people thought of her. Well, most people. There were some exceptions, the girl beside her included.

“Me too.” Violet took her hand, giving it a squeeze. “Alright then. We’ll make some. AJ deserves to taste one at least once. He never got the chance, did he?”

“No, he didn’t.”

That was actually a really depressing thought. AJ didn’t know anything other than a walker-infested world. At least Clem had some kind of childhood before all this, half her life. Even if the first half felt like a distant memory.

In another time, in another place, they could all just… exist. Without the fear of monsters, both living and dead. Lee could still be here, too...

“Clem? You still with me?”

She shook herself back to reality, turning to offer Violet an apologetic look. “Sorry, just… zoned out.”

“No shit.” Violet shifted onto her side, focusing on the star beside her instead. “What were you thinking about?”

It was pointless trying to avoid it, but it didn’t stop Clementine from trying. Force of habit. “Who says I was thinking about anything?”

No way was Violet going to fall for that poor deflect. “I do. You got that look.”

“What look?”

That question was met with a skeptical expression. “The one where you’re thinking about something… and you wanna talk about it, but you don’t know how to.”

Clementine could easily get defensive about it, push her away. Instead, she sighed. Violet was right. There _was_ something bothering her. Maybe it was better to talk it out than keep it buried deep inside. Like she had done for years. There was never anybody she really felt comfortable talking about it with. Or it was never the right time.

Maybe now was.

“I was just wondering whether…” she paused, struggling to find the right words.

They were just words. Words that made her want to cry… words that might break her more than they already had if she spoke them aloud...

Silently, Violet shuffled closer to her, wrapping her arms around Clementine. She waited patiently, giving her a light squeeze for courage. The new, familiar warmth made the oncoming vulnerability feel less scary somehow.

She swallowed hard, feeling her heart ache. “...whether Lee was up there, you know. People have to go somewhere when they die, right?”

It almost sounded silly when she said it aloud. People died all the time in this new world. Some became walkers, if they were unlucky. Mindless monsters driven forward by an insatiable hunger.

Not unlike the living, really.

Violet stayed quiet for a few moments, waiting to see if Clem was finished before replying. She stared up at the stars, eyes tracing over the old signs they had made up before.

“My grandma always talked about heaven and shit. How good people go up there and bad people go to hell,” she began hesitantly. “Got me wondering what she meant by ‘good’ and ‘bad’ people. I asked her once.”

“What did she say?” Clementine asked, resting her head against the other girl’s shoulder.

“She didn’t give me a straight answer, kinda avoided it actually. _‘You’ll see for yourself, Violet’_ ,” she quoted with closed eyes. “She sounded so sad… that much I remember clearly. I wasn’t very old at the time.”

Violet didn’t talk much about her past, nobody did. Not without being prompted, at least. In the moments of quiet, when they had time to think.

“Did you find out?” Clementine enquired hesitantly.

“Maybe I did. Well, I found my own answer, at least. A complicated one.” She frowned, holding her girlfriend closer. “Good people do bad things and bad people do good things, it’s always been that way.”

“More for us now.”

“Maybe. The bad things are usually more violent now, the good things can be just as violent sometimes…” Violet sighed, turning to face her. “Ugh, this is hard to explain. The point is, if you aim to be a good person, then that’s all you can do. If you mess up, well it doesn’t necessarily make you bad.”

Clementine nodded slowly, glancing up at the sky once more. “Lee told me he did something bad, before the walkers. I was too young to really understand it all and he never got the chance to tell me everything.”

Taking in the new information, Violet lightly tapped one of her feet against Clem’s. “And you don’t think that makes him a bad person, right?”

“No, it doesn’t,” she replied confidently. “He was so kind to me when he didn’t even have to be. Not many people would look after a kid who wasn’t even their's in the middle of all this.”

“Right. There are plenty of people who would take advantage.” She looked like she was going to say something and then changed her mind, rethinking. “Even though I never met Lee, I can tell he’s a good person.”

“How so?”

Violet shrugged. “Just a feeling. He kept you safe and cared about you.”

“Enough to risk everything,” Clementine added sadly.

“And I can tell you care about him just as much.” Violet hugged her tighter.

“I… miss him,” Clementine admitted, nuzzling into her girlfriend’s shirt.

Even though she had suffered so much, too much, she felt lucky. She could’ve never met Lee, never reached this point, been dead… but she had survived. Through luck and skill, both her own and others. More than that, she had somewhere to call home, people to care about.

Maybe that was enough of a sign that things were changing for the better.

“Oh look,” Violet’s voice pulled her out of her thought. She glanced up, noticing a flash of moving light. “A shooting star. Quick, make a wish.”

Following her lead, Clementine closed her eyes. What should she wish for? For this to all be a dream? No, she didn’t want that. It might be painful but she wouldn’t take back the past eight years.

Then, it suddenly came to her.

_I wish that we all live long enough to see a world free of walkers again, for AJ to know what that’s like, even if it will never be the same as before. It doesn’t have to be. I want to live in that kind of world with the people I love. Safe._

Once finished, she opened her eyes again. The shooting star was long gone.

She turned to Violet, curious. “So, what did you wish for?”

“If I tell you, it won’t come true.” Violet stuck out her tongue, not caring how goofy she looked.

A side of her not many people got to see. Normally, she was so serious and aloof.

It was enough to make Clem’s heart skip a beat, meeting it with just as dorky a smile. “You don’t strike me as the superstitious type.”

“I’m not usually, but…” Violet hesitated, glancing back up at the sky, “some things are too important to risk it. Like... you.”

That last part made Clementine grin more than she ever thought possible. It was always that way around Violet. “Hmm, is that a hint?”

“Maybe.”

She leaned forward, lips brushing against Clementine’s briefly, then again and again. Soft and tender, not lasting more than a couple of seconds each. It made them both feel giddy, ten times lighter with every kiss. Lips, cheeks, noses, foreheads, every spot was given much-needed love and attention.

When they finally broke apart, Clementine rested her forehead against Violet’s. “As much as the walkers suck, they are a small price to pay to have you, Vi.”

The same went for AJ and the other kids around here. Her life could’ve gone a million different ways.

“Tough times don’t last. Tough people do. I heard that somewhere, can’t remember where now.” Violet glanced up at the stars again. “I think that applies here. We all adapt and make sacrifices, but we also find happiness even in the worse moments.” Her eyes darted back to Clementine. “You’re a large part of that happiness for me. I couldn’t be without you, Clem.”

“Me neither.”

It felt dangerous to care so much about someone, especially after all the loss, but they were both willing to open their heart again.

“That chicken nugget will be mine,” Violet muttered after some time, staring at the misshapen constellation in the sky.

Clementine chuckled, sighing contently as she felt her eyes close. “You’re such a dork.”

“I _was_ thinking about sharing it with you. Now I’m not so sure.” Violet acted offended, although she obviously wasn’t.

“You will,” Clem stated confidently, smirking.

Opening her mouth to argue and then closing it again, Violet shook her head and sighed defeatedly. “Yeah… you’re right.”

**Author's Note:**

> I wanna write some more TWD stuff, whenever ideas pop into my head, so might see you with something else soon-ish.


End file.
